Australia Part 1 | Brisbane

I’m finally sharing my photos (and some tips) from my Australian adventure back in October 2013. It was an amazing experience that I’m breaking down into four posts. Here’s the first one on Brisbane…

Brisbane is one of those places I’ve wanted to visit since my good friend Chris moved there eight years ago. He would always refer to Brisbane as “Bris-Vegas”, which I thought was a completely made up name until I visited and found out that’s what the locals affectionately call their city. During my five days there, Chris graciously hosted us and led us through the city. Bris-Vegas is a lovely city that has some of the glitz and glamor of a big city, but is actually a relatively small, easy to get around place. We joked that a bad day in Brisbane was a day with six clouds in the sky, as the climate there is sub-tropical and sunny and mild nearly everyday. I left my fancy DSLR camera at home for this trip and all photos are taken with my iPhone 5 or my the little Fuji X-100S (pictured below). Here is my visual synopsis…

CityCat – Take a ride on this ferry that stretches along the banks of the Brisbane River (we took it from New Farm Park after our picnic). It’s a great way to see the city at a glance. The South Bank is a must do stop with a lot of great places. The first of which is a man-made beach right in the middle of the city called Streets Beach. After the beach we stopped by the Plough Inn and enjoyed a pint in the outdoor beer garden while people-watching. The Eagle Street Pier is also nice stop to check out along the river. We enjoyed great view of the Story Bridge and drinks riverside at Groove Train and for shopping nearby check out the Queen Street Mall.

Breakfast Creek Hotel – “Brekky Creek” is the most famous and iconic watering holes in Queensland. We had dinner at the Spanish Garden Steakhouse our first night in Brisbane. I had a delicious steak and tried their notable beer ‘off the wood” or beer out of a wooden cask rather than standard stainless steel.

Australia Zoo – Crikey! if this wasn’t the best zoo I’ve visited, ever. It’s a wonderful wildlife and conservation facility that is run by the late Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin’s family. You can not only see, but touch, many of the animals. You can walk right into Roo Heaven and feed the various types of Kangaroos. You can pet a Koala. You can even sign up for a special animal encounter which allows you to go into the enclosure and touch and interact with the animal under the supervision of zoo staff. We did the Wombat encounter and let me just say not only Wombats extremely cute, but the Southern Wombats have some of the softest fur I’ve ever felt. You must also visit the Crocoseum for their daily show where you can see and learn more about crocodiles. But, not to worry most of the zoo staff will alert you and round you up so that you don’t miss the show!

Mt. Tambourine – Mt. Tambourine is about an hour drive from Brisbane and spent a day there hiking one of the walking tracks (that’s what they call hiking trails in Australia). We walked about on the Palm Grove Rainforest Circuit. We saw some amazing giant Strangler Fig Trees. After our hike we had beers and food at the MT Brewery where we enjoyed a sampler of beers and cheeses from the Witches Chase Cheese Company that is also on site. We ended our day exploring the shops, galleries and cafes along the Gallery Walk. There is even a winery, but we did not have time to visit.

Hope you enjoyed and check back tomorrow for Part 2 on my Great Barrier Reef adventures!